Be honest whenever you see the words 'based on a true story,' you immediately start wondering just how much of what you're about to read/watch/listen to can be considered truth. Truth is a funny thing, particularly in the realm of biography or memoir; our memories tend to recall actual events with a surprising amount of flexibility.

The list of names that would warrant discussion for inclusion in the pantheon of television comedy is a relatively short one. And the list of women on that list would be unfortunately (and undeservedly) far shorter.

The quest to discover where we truly belong can be an arduous one. So many people spend countless months and years striving to figure out just who they want to be. It's a journey that can prove to be daunting, surprising, rewarding and terrifying sometimes all at the same time.

Quality service . . . at a price

At one time or another, the service industry has claimed everyone, and may again. It is a giant industry that operates in the open and in the dark like black ops. If assistance is needed, somebody is waiting to help, either with reluctance or insane enthusiasm. And the bane of any service worker's existence is that one guy demanding the impossible, and then turning their frustration onto them. Jacob Tomsky has seen it all, and in 'Heads in Beds: A Reckless Memoir of Hotels, Hustles, and So-Called Hospitality' (Vintage, $15) he tells all.

Giving Up the Ghost' a haunting, haunted memoir

Being a teenager can be difficult. Being a teenager who's a little (or a lot) different can be even more difficult. Being a teenager who's a little different in a small town can border on the impossible or at least it can feel that way.

That's the way Eric Nuzum felt growing up in Canton, Ohio in the early 1980s. That's according to Nuzum's memoir 'Giving Up the Ghost' (Dial Press, $15), a thoughtful, poignant and painfully funny look back at the ghosts of childhood.

Pitcher's memoir a story of more than just baseball

David Foster Wallace once wrote a wonderful piece about how disappointing an athlete's autobiography can be. While he used Tracy Austin's 'Beyond Center Court' as an example of the general vapidity of the athlete's biography, the truth is that there are hundreds of hastily ghost-written books out there that, while providing the basic nuts and bolts information about an athlete, never really tell us anything about who they are.

However, when that is not the case when both the athlete and co-author are both literate, expressive and willing to speak truthfully the reader is treated to a very real, very raw peek behind the curtain at an athlete's real personality; warts and all. The reader gets an actual memoir one that just happens to star an athlete.